If all the disgusting and borderline (or outright) violent rhetoric that's been thrown around in politics lately hasn't been enough to disgust you, maybe this will be. Jacob Burris, campaign manager for Ken Aden, a Democrat who is running for Congress in Arkansas, came home last night to find his family's cat had been brutally murdered. Its head was bashed in, and someone had scrawled the word "liberal" in paint across its dead body. (There is a graphic picture here, which is not for the faint of heart.)

To make matters even more depressing, Burris said it was one of his children who found the dead cat on their front porch. He reports that the kids are doing okay, and he's also taking steps to protect his family from further threats, saying, "I've got a gun and I know how to use it." Ken Aden also issued this official statement:

To kill a child's pet is just unconscionable. As a former combat soldier, I've seen the best of humanity and the worst of humanity. Whoever did this is definitely part of the worst of humanity.

Agreed. Just exactly what kind of fucking monster would do such a thing is one question everyone wants answers to. Unfortunately, there's not much to go on at this point. The campaign between Aden and incumbent Steve Womack has reportedly been "tense," but they don't think anyone from the Womack campaign was involved. It's more likely some random nut job, but that, of course, doesn't make it any less damaging, both to the poor cat and its owners and to the broader state of political discourse, which at this point feels like it's about as low as it can go.